


Brothers

by HandmaidenOfHorror



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Auguste (Captive Prince) Lives, Brother/Brother Incest, Incest, M/M, Minor Character Death, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:13:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25782679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HandmaidenOfHorror/pseuds/HandmaidenOfHorror
Summary: Laurent saves Auguste, and it changes everything.
Relationships: Auguste/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: RelationShipping 2020





	Brothers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [intimatopia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/intimatopia/gifts).



They were brothers. They were so much more. There’s just no comparison to the bond between two people who saved each other. Two people who only have each other.

It was Laurent who saved Auguste first, in the most dramatic situation – on a battlefield against their southern neighbor. The thirteen year old was too young to actually take part in a battle, but stubborn Laurent, worshipping his beloved older brother, followed him into battle from the safety of the headquarters as soon as nobody was looking. And by doing this, he saved Auguste’s life.

When Laurent found Auguste, his brother was fighting the crown prince of their enemy. Prince against prince, each a great swordsman, was a spectacle that managed to stop the soldiers fighting around them, who instead watched the two princes in awe. Auguste looked spectacular and the fight seemed even, but from watching his brother closely for so long Laurent could tell that Auguste was slowly running out of stamina against the powerhouse of the Akielonian prince. He will soon lose and he will die – unless Laurent does something, which he did.

He had no chances against the older prince. And it was dishonorable to intervene in a duel. But it was just as dishonorable to kill a youth too young to be able to legally enlist. So Laurent ambushed the enemy prince and kicked at his legs with all of his might, causing him to fall over, due to surprise rather than Laurent’s might. The Akielonian prince ( _Damianos_ , remembered Laurent) jumped back immediately with an angry expression, but when he saw Laurent, a boy tiny and lanky for him age, his expression turned to a smirk.

“We will finish the duel some other time,” said Damianos, “and the boy can join once he is of age.”

***

Auguste watched Damianos leave, unsure whether it was a trap, and when he was gone he personally escorted Laurent from the battlefield, slapping him hard in the face once they were at the HQ. Laurent didn’t mind though, he was just happy that his brother was alive. The battle itself ended in a stalemate. It was rather pointless, all in all, and Delfeur ended up belonging to nobody – instead the Empire intervened and established an independent small nation sworn to neutrality. At least that meant Vere and Akielon were no longer neighbors – for now.

At home, the situation looked no better. Even with the duel aborted prematurely, Auguste was still heavily injured and spent weeks recovering under the watchful eyes of Laurent. The older prince couldn’t stay angry at the boy who, he realized, likely saved his life. And then their father died. It was not unusual – Aleron was old and the war was incredibly stressful to him. At least he died peacefully in his sleep, but Auguste suspected not everything was as it seemed. He knew his father was in unusually good condition for his age, and that he recovered from the battle stresses faster than Auguste himself. Foul play was definitely involved.

Auguste pondered upon his suspicions. He didn’t know who may be responsible, but he knew one person who couldn’t – his younger brother. He shared his suspicions with Laurent one day when he was strong enough to visit the garden and sure that nobody was spying on them.

“I think I may know what happened,” Laurent replied after a few moments of silence, “I overheard uncle talking with father about a sleeping drug he takes when he has an episode of insomnia, and father asked him to give him some. That was two or three days before his death.”

“It’s a strong allegation, even if it makes sense,” replied Auguste, “and we have no proof of it.”

“I can talk about being unable to sleep,” offered Laurent, “it’s not a lie anyways.”

“No!” Auguste forbade him immediately, afraid of what their uncle may do to unconscious Laurent, “I’ll do it. I’ll complain that the pain makes me unable to sleep, and when our uncle gives me the drug, I’ll have it tested by personal medic.”

“That may work unless he was bought by uncle too,” replied Laurent, and to this Auguste had no answer.

***

The plan worked surprisingly well. Uncle was quick to offer the drug to Auguste, and Paschal was not, in fact, in uncle’s pocket – or if he was, he knew that upon gaining the throne the man will get rid of all evidence, including a physician who would have lied about poison in the drug. But Paschal didn’t lie, and the princes’ uncle was promptly arrested, sentenced and executed.

And thus, Auguste and Laurent became the only two left alive in royal family. The bond between them, strong to begin with, grew as strong as steel. There was no one else who would see them as they were rather than King and Prince. The only ones who knew each other’s true faces behind the masks they showed the world.

And as time went, the brothers became lovers. Laurent was too young to have ever had anyone other than Auguste. His first kiss was with Auguste. His first time was with Auguste. (And to both’s surprise Auguste realized he enjoys playing a submissive role in bed – it was so refreshing to give power to somebody you trust after spending days with world’s weight on your shoulders.) And Auguste realized he didn’t need anyone else but Laurent. He couldn’t trust anyone as much as he trusted Laurent.

People think that when there are two princes, the one who doesn’t become the king spends his time in the shadows, plotting against his brother. And while it was true with the earlier generation, Laurent was Auguste’s greatest friend, best advisor, and beloved partner, even if he was not wearing any crown. Neither of them could imagine a life without the other, and neither of them wanted another partner, even though Laurent himself urged Auguste to take a wife for political purposes and Auguste wanted Laurent to at least have a pet. It always ended with the brothers refusing – they had each other, and it was enough for them.


End file.
